Kate Fagan

Sixers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski met with Johnson two days after meeting with Doug Collins in Scottsdale, AZ. Stefanski was joined by assistant general manager Tony DiLeo and team consultant Gene Shue, as he was during his meeting with Collins.

Johnson, 45, is currently working as a studio analyst for ABC/ESPN and was fired by the Mavericks in 2008.

"We had an informative meeting and open dialogue with Avery today regarding our head coaching position," Stefanski said in the team's press release. "His reputation as a motivator and accomplishments as a head coach in the NBA are well-known and I certainly want to thank him for taking the time to meet with us."

Next up for the Sixers is likely to be Mark Jackson, who is currently Jeff Van Gundy's partner on ABC/ESPN broadcasts. Something to also keep an eye on is the now-open coaching job with the Chicago Bulls. Most of the candidates for the New Orleans Hornets opening are currently overlapping with the Sixers, and it's likely they'll also overlap with the Chicago Bulls. Plus, now Vinny Del Negro is available.

Keith Pompey has been an Inquirer reporter since September 2004 and took over the Sixers beat in the summer of 2013 after covering Temple basketball and football for the previous three years.

Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between.